Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair

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82

Top Critic Average

82%

Critics Recommend

IGN
8.7 / 10
Eurogamer
Recommended
Game Rant
2.5 / 5
Game Informer
8.5 / 10
GameSpot
6 / 10
Hardcore Gamer
4 / 5
Easy Allies
8.5 / 10
Nintendo Life
9 / 10
Creators: Playtonic Games, Team17
Release Date: Oct 8, 2019 - PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair Review Summary

StrongCritic Consensus

Clever Levels

The studio's roots in making similar games come through.

Better Than the Original

This 2.5D take on the heroes is preferred over its 3D predecessor.

Difficulty Imbalances

The peaks and valleys of The Impossible Lair can leave one feeling queasy.

Following a middling debut, Yooka and Laylee are back and at their best in The Impossible Lair. Though the game struggles to balance difficulty well, it's still usually worth the trouble thanks to a great sense of the genre from the former Rare devs who once monkied around with a similar series.


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Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair Trailers

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair: Tonics thumbnail

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair: Tonics

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair: State Changes! thumbnail

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair: State Changes!

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair: Reveal Trailer thumbnail

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair: Reveal Trailer


Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair Screenshots

Critic Reviews for Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair brings the dynamic duo down to a 2.5D perspective to deliver one of the best platformers we've seen in years.

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Playtonic tightens up its nostalgic take on platforming and turns its eyes to the future.

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Game Rant

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Game Rant

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair has some unique and interesting ideas, but the platforming just doesn't click like it should.

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The Impossible Lair may receive top billing, but the entire journey leading to that titular final challenge is rewarding

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Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair is a pronounced effort to recapture the magic of platformers, but its basic platforming and sharp difficulty spikes hold it back.

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Delightful a package this ends up being — with a surprising glee to be had when it comes to fiddling about with the many game-altering tonics on show — it's by no means an argument for Playtonic to ditch altogether the idea of revisiting traditional 3D for a hypothetical "Twooka-Laylee" follow-up.

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Donkey Kong Country fans rejoice: this is the spiritual successor you've been waiting for. The worst thing you could say about it is that the overworld exploration may prove to be too involved for those who are in it purely for the runny-jumpy stuff, but those who are happy to mix platforming with top-down adventuring and don't mind adapting to the constantly changing pace will find the best of both worlds here. Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair is a fantastic sophomore effort that pays tribute to Rare's past and establishes Playtonic as one of the UK's most exciting studios.

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Industry Coverage

A Large Number of Titles Are Coming to Xbox Game Pass

A Large Number of Titles Are Coming to Xbox Game Pass

17 Games have been announced for Xbox Game Pass

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Yooka-Laylee Developer Playtonic Confirms Their Next Game Is Not Banjo-Kazooie

Yooka-Laylee Developer Playtonic Confirms Their Next Game Is Not Banjo-Kazooie

Yooka-Laylee developer Playtonic is not making a new Banjo-Kazooie game, the studio confirmed today. The former Rare devs say they'd like to, but they're just not right now.

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